Manchester City v Brighton & Hove Albion
Premier League | Etihad Stadium
Saturday, 21 October 2023 @ 3.00pm
Manchester City host Brighton & Hove Albion in Saturday's match at the Etihad Stadium looking to bounce back from defeat last time out in the Premier League.
The Sky Blues, who sit third in the league after eight games, fell to a 1-0 away defeat to Arsenal on October 8.
They face a Brighton side who secured a draw in their last match, a 2-2 tie with Liverpool, and who sit sixth in the table.
With 21 goals in eight games so far this season, Brighton are the league's joint-highest scorers with 2.6 goals per game. But they are conceding more than average too, letting in 16 goals at a rate of 2.0 per game.
City are also above average scorers, with 2.1 goals per game, compared to a league average of 1.5. They have conceded 0.8 goals per game.
In Erling Haaland, the Sky Blues have the league's most on-form striker so far this season. He has notched eight goals in eight appearances.
His goal rate of one every 89 minutes is slightly quicker than that of Evan Ferguson, Albion's top scorer with a goal every 91 minutes, and a total of four goals in eight games.
In the last five years, City and Brighton have played each other on 10 occasions. City won eight of them, Brighton one, and they drew once.
On average, the Sky Blues scored 2.8 goals and Brighton 0.7 in those matches.
Their last meeting was on May 24, when they played out a 1-1 draw.
The hosts are in reasonable form in the Premier League, with four wins and two losses from their last six games.
With three wins and a draw over that period, the away team's form is slightly less good – they have taken 10 points from 18, compared to City's 12.
Saturday's match will be refereed by Robert Jones, who has taken charge of seven Premier League games so far this season, issuing two red cards and booking 38 players. He has awarded two penalties.
The last City game Jones refereed was a 1-0 home win against Newcastle United on August 19. He is yet to oversee a match featuring Brighton this season.